I'm having zone controller trouble. I'm on my second Taco ZVC406 and it just failed. Both had the same issue - pump switch relay failure. The contactor on the relay won't close unless you push on it. The first one lasted a couple years and the second only about 13 months. Supplyhouse.com has been great and replaced both under warranty...got me a replacement next day...but I'm wondering if I should kick the Taco to the curb...eat the cost...and try a different one rather than replace it every year. Any brands that I should look into?
A lot of the installs I see online have Taco zone controllers, they seem to be somewhat of an "industry standard". Since I'm a forced air guy, I always like the discussions and picture folks have of their water-water systems. I was on Supply House's web site and I see they sell Honeywell, and Grundfos also. Based off of my personal experience with both brands I wouldn't be afraid to use either. I did a search on the Facebook boiler group I'm in for the Taco Zone controller and I didn't hear any bad feedback about them. Let me ask a guy who I talk to who does a ton of water-water installs and see what he recommends. Any chance you could having voltage issues / spikes ? Maybe throw a good UPS inline and see if you continue to have issues.
I think the power is pretty clean here. Haven't had any issues with much more sensitive electronics in the past. I looked at the Grundfos and Honeywell controllers on Supply House and they got worse reviews than the Taco. We'll let this one ride but if it fails again I'm going to try something else.
To come to think of it, I'm not sure if I ever seen a picture of an install that didn't use a Taco Zone controller. Talked to my contact on Facebook and he said they are "the best in the business". He said to double check how you have the unit wired up. He said there are two switches and to make sure it's not wired "funky". He gave me the okay, so I'm just copying / pasting what he sent me about the other brands: "I have used Azel, Honeywell, and Grundfos otherwise. The digital Honeywell one is pretty nice, but the galvanized looking one (I can't remember what they are called, specifically) is a heap of chit. The Azel is okay, but does not have an internal transformer. The Grundfos was like trying to fly a spaceship, at least to me. Everything was extremely tight and seemed azz-backward" If you are on Facebook, feel free to PM me and I will see if he's good with me sharing his info with you. He's very knowledgeable when it comes to boiler installs.
